Category Archive for ‘Andreas Lilja’ at On the Wings

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3/6 Notes

Published

on March 6, 2008

in 2007-2008, Aaron Downey, Andreas Lilja, Blues, Brett Lebda, Brian Rafalski, Coyotes, Derek Meech, Jonathan Ericsson, Manny Legace, Stars and Tomas Kopecky

. 6 Comments

… I only caught the first period of the Wings’ 4-1 win over the Blues last night. I was reasonably impressed with what I saw, though it’s obvious they aren’t quite firing on all cylinders yet. Still, it’s a marked improvement over their February play, that’s for sure.

I have to say something about the phantom Pavel Datsyuk call that led to the Blues’ late first period power play. What the heck was that? I’d like to think that the official who called the penalty knows the difference between a trip and a player falling on his own. Apparently not.

In the end, it doesn’t matter, but my confidence in the officiating is waning. What with the missed call in the Sharks game Friday night, the play that was not stopped in Buffalo Sunday, and various phantom calls, how are we expected to trust in the referees? It’s not as though it’s just a problem in Wings games either. Just ask the Philadelphia Flyers. I hate to complain about the officiating, but to me this is a League-wide quality issue, not a Wings fan-specific gripe.

… I’ve been trying to cut Andreas Lilja some slack lately. I figure there’s a reason he remains in the lineup, despite his more visible blunders. With that change in mindset, I’ve been able to appreciate big #3 more.

On the Blues’ goal, however, I thought his attempt to knock the puck down was a little on the boneheaded side. It turned out to be a perfect redirect. I thought the conventional wisdom was that defensemen leave the puck alone if they can’t outright block it. With Stempniak right there, I can understand what Andreas was trying to do, but it just didn’t turn out so well.

… It wasn’t Brett Lebda that Mike Babcock sat in favor of Jonathan Ericsson last night. It was Derek Meech. I admit it, I was surprised. Meech apparently hit a high point against Edmonton last week, but his play since was still quite good, I thought. I assume Babcock was just demonstrating to Meech that his spot on the roster is not a given. Hopefully it won’t backfire, somewhat like we saw with Quincey.

… Giving Ericsson another game paid off, if only because of a little drop pass that kicked off the cycle leading to Pavel Datsyuk’s first goal. If Nick Lidstrom does return Sunday, however, last night was probably Ericsson’s last game in the Winged Wheel this season as he’ll be returned to Grand Rapids.

… Since I missed the second and third periods, I didn’t see the hit on Tomas Kopecky or the aftermath. It didn’t make the cut on the highlight reel, and neither did the Rafalski throwdown or Downey’s coming off the bench. Too bad. IwoCPO says he’ll have video later.

I’m glad to read that Kopecky’s okay. He looked good in the first period and I assume played a strong game in the second and third, as well.

… I don’t know what he looked like in the second and third, obviously, but you get the feeling that Jiri Hudler is finally going to break out of this horrendous slump. I thought he looked strong in the first.

… Where was Manny Legace’s head on Brian Rafalski’s goal? It just blew by him.

… The Dallas Stars lost at home to the Coyotes last night. That’s two home losses in a row for the second-ranked team in the Conference. Much ballyhooed trade deadline acquisition Brad Richards has zero points in both games since posting five in his debut with the Stars. That’s called being brought back to earth.

The Wings’ two consecutive wins have put them 7 points ahead of Dallas and they retain two games in hand.

Babcock on Lilja

Published

Matt Saler

on January 25, 2008

in Andreas Lilja, Mike Babcock and Quotes

. 0 Comments

Mike Babcock breaks down Andreas Lilja’s game perfectly:

“I think he’s just gotten better and better. He’s one of those guys — because he’s not a puck (carrying) D-man — he makes a turnover. His hockey sense and his ability to play the game are better than his hands. Once in a while, the way we play gets him in trouble. But, he’s a great shot-blocker, our most physical guy, stands up for his teammates all the time, penalty kills, plays great in match-up situations, lets Junior (defense partner Niklas Kronwall) be up the ice all night long.”

As Ansar Khan notes, Lilja gets a lot of attention for the times he makes mistakes like turning the puck over. I think that’s more due to our tendency to seek out a goat on even the best team, but if you look at it like Babcock, there’s not much to complain about. Watching games on TV, it’s sometimes hard to notice all the positive things Lilja does because, as Babcock says, he’s not a puck carrying defenseman, and his best work is not generally the focus of the play.

It’s time to start watching him more closely, I think.

1/14 Notes

Published

Matt Saler

on January 14, 2008

in Aaron Downey, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Dallas Drake, Injuries, Thrashers and Trade Rumors

. 2 Comments

Update (11:05 PM): Be sure to read Pete’s well-thought-out followup post on the Trade Question. Nonetheless, I remain unenthusiastic about trade possibilities.

I guess part of my reluctance in this is due to my belief that too much tinkering (read: any tinkering) would mess up what’s already a good thing. The Wings can always try to “trade up,” I suppose, but why? I’m in basic agreement with HockeyTownTodd on this (from the comments):

I am reluctant to play wannabe GM, and think the Wings should stand pat. The girl should dance with the guy who brought her to the prom.

As long as the Wings are healthy, why would they want to risk screwing up team chemistry for what may only be marginal potential gain? - Matt

Update (10:40 PM): I feel I should clarify my position on the Blake/Lebda/Meech thing. As I said below, I think the argument that the Wings will look to improving their defense at the deadline makes sense, given the consequences of injuries last post-season. That said, I don’t know that a move is really all that necessary.

Derek Meech has played in a grand total of nine games for the Wings this season. In those nine games, he put up zero point. So the kid hasn’t dazzled offensively. But what do you expect? He’s a rookie in the NHL with a precarious spot on one of the deepest teams in the game. It’s perfectly understandable if he plays a conservative game in his position. Heck, it’s probably demanded of him.

He’s minus-2 and that may not be impressive, but this is: he’s taken zero penalties. For comparison’s sake, Kyle Quincey had zero penalty minutes through six games with the Wings in the regular season last year, and just two through 13 playoff games. I’ve frequently seen Quincey touted as a rock-solid young defenseman and part of the reason for that was his conservative play. Why doesn’t Meech get the same credit?

When Meech has been in the lineup, I generally only notice him the first time I see his #14 and think “Shanny…” In my experience, hardly noticing a young defenseman is a good thing. I don’t think Meech is an exception to that rule. There’s no need for him to be flashy or to “show anything.” He just has to do his job, and I think he’s done it pretty well for someone relegated to a practice drone.

There are far worse things than having Derek Meech as a seventh defenseman. A way to improve the situation would be to get him in the lineup more often in the second half. Give Chris Chelios a rest more often. Bench Andreas Lilja after a bad game in order to motivate him. Another “conditioning stint”(I’m told Derek has been “awesome” in his brief return to Grand Rapids, by the way. He should re-join the team late this week.). Whatever it takes to get him some playing time. Then Meech will gain the confidence he needs to stand out more. He’s not going to put up huge numbers, but he’s more than capable of being a solid, steady depth defenseman.

That said, I did write below that, “The team may be better off including Derek Meech in such a trade.” Of course, there I meant relative to trading Brett Lebda, whose upside is greater than Meech’s. I certainly didn’t mean to imply I think they should trade Meech. I’m not a fan of the idea of trading either of them, though if I had to choose, Meech would be the one to go.

My point is this: The Wings can go get a veteran (such as Keith Carney, as suggested by Todd below) if they feel they must and that they can get a good deal. It probably can’t hurt (they’re generally good at finding players that fit with team chemistry). But they also can stick with what they have and probably do okay as well, assuming everyone stays healthy. - Matt

… Bruce MacLeod, George Sipple, and Ansar Khan report that Dallas Drake missed practice today due to a knee injury sustained on the same collision in which Ottawa’s Dany Heatley separated his shoulder. The collision happened around the 3:42 mark of the third period Saturday night and was the last time Heatley saw the ice.

Drake, however, was able to play two more shifts before hitting the bench for the final time at 11:21, finishing with just under seven and a half minutes. Drake has started to get less time since the return of Kirk Maltby, so the low TOI wasn’t necessarily due to his knee. He is, however, questionable for the game against Atlanta tomorrow night, though Mike Babcock told Sipple that he thinks Drake will be available.

… All three beat writers also note that a possible replacement for Drake in the lineup, Aaron Downey, hurt his knee in practice when he fell and hyper-extended it. He did return, though, and seemed none the worse for wear. According to MacLeod, he shared time with Matt Ellis skating on the fourth line.

… According to MacLeod, the team “spent significant time” practicing their power play today. That’s good news as they’ve been pretty ineffective with the man-advantage for a while now. MacLeod has a good piece on that topic here.

… Ansar Khan addresses the Trade Question by claiming Rob Blake would be a better acquisition than Mats Sundin. He presents a good argument, though I wonder if Blake isn’t at the end of the road at 38. He would, as Khan points out, be cheaper than Sundin, though. He’d also fill in an actual need (making the defensive corps an experienced seven), whereas the Swede would be somewhat extraneous on a team already full of forwards.

Pete at yzerman is god is all for Blake and outlines a possible trade scenario involving Brett Lebda.

I have to say that I’d hate to see that happen. As Pete points out, that would probably result in a third pairing of Andreas Lilja and Chris Chelios. Whereas Pete considers that an upgrade over Chelios/Lebda, I’d call it a nightmare. The two slowest defensemen in the same pair? One of the reasons Chelios remains so effective is that he has a smooth skating partner in Lebda. The same goes for Lilja with Lidstrom. Put them together and they’ll both be relegated to pylon status.

Sure Lebda doesn’t have the size. Sure he’s not producing offensively like he should be. But his speed and skating ability alone makes him worth keeping.

The team may be better off including Derek Meech in such a trade. It would go a long way in clearing the logjam and would give the kid an actual chance to play in the NHL.

Who knows, though, whether the Wings will actually look to Blake to fill out their defense? It stands to reason that they’d want to shore up against injuries this time around, as losing Mathieu Schneider while already down Niklas Kronwall was probably the single biggest reason they were eliminated, but Blake may not be their man. Holland likes to go for guys few people were expecting and the more I hear the Blake rumor, the less I’ll believe it.

… Lastly, the Thrashers are pumped to be visiting Detroit tomorrow night.

11/5 Notes

Published

Matt Saler

on November 5, 2007

in Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Dan Cleary, Derek Meech, Dominik Hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Lines, Links and Valtteri Filppula

. 2 Comments

Update (2:45 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Johan Franzen will wear a visor at least until the laceration (from taking the puck to his face off Brett Lebda’s stick Thursday) on his face heals, and maybe even after that, “to make his mom happy.”- Matt

… Bruce MacLeod reports that Niklas Kronwall (groin) did not practice today and will not be in the lineup Wednesday against Nashville. The Free Press’ George Sipple quotes Mike Babcock as saying, “He looks like he might be (ready) on Friday” for the game with Columbus.

More on Lilja

Published

Matt Saler

on September 15, 2007

in Andreas Lilja and Links

. 0 Comments

Ted Kulfan notes on the News blog that Lilja’s contract is up after this season, and suggests that he “could become very expendable with so many talented young D’s coming up.” Again, we’ll have to see how camp and exhibition go, but I still think Lilja’s job is on the line a bit here.

On Sopel

Published

Matt Saler

on September 12, 2007

in Andreas Lilja, Brent Sopel, Brett Lebda, Brian Rafalski, Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall

. 3 Comments

Update (13. Sep, 12:22AM): Bruce MacLeod has posted a look at the situation and it’s a good read. He writes that the competition is between Sopel and Meech, not Lilja. At the onset, that’s exactly how it will be, but MacLeod admits that “[Sopel] could force Detroit’s hand into trading or cutting one of its top six defensemen.” If it came down to it, I’d guess that player would be Lilja, which would give Meech the 7th spot. Or the team would just carry 8 defensemen, which isn’t fair to the experienced player (Lebda or Lilja) that gets to share the skybox with Meech. Plus, it would create problems with the forward corps.

What problems? Well, if Grigorenko has a strong enough camp to make the team, and if the Wings want to keep Matt Ellis (a heart-and-soul player in GR ready to be one in Detroit), they’d need to carry 14 forwards (those two, plus Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Filppula, Cleary, Samuelsson, Franzen, Maltby, Draper, Drake, Hudler, Kopecky). 14 forwards plus 2 goalies plus 8 defensemen equals 24 players, one man over the limit of 23.

So, as already looked at by IwoCPO, if both Sopel and Grigorenko turn out to be good enough to make the team, someone’s on their way out. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Maybe Sopel will be a flop and all they’ll have to worry about is what to do with Igor and Ellis. - Matt

Ansar Khan has a blog post up with a few Babcock quotes on various topics, but one of the most interesting is this one on Brent Sopel, one of the Wings’ free agent camp invitees:

“… I’ve known him since he was a kid, we have a real good feel for him and think he’s a top-four NHL defenseman. Now, just because we think it doesn’t mean anything, he’s got to relax and let his skill come to the forefront and show us what he brings (though the preseason).”

Sopel’s entry into the top four would upset the current projections of the group, which is generally considered to be Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Andreas Lilja. The first two are locks for the top pairing (or at least, the top four, in Rafalski’s case) and the team isn’t paying Kronwall $3 million to play in the third pairing, or, for that matter, to sit on the bench. And speaking of the third pairing, Chris Chelios and Brett Lebda play too well together to break that up. So, that leaves Andreas Lilja. If Sopel cracks the lineup, it seems to me that Lilja would be the odd man out.

That wouldn’t be a new situation for old Andreas, whose had an up-and-down career in Detroit, ranging from Nick Lidstrom’s defensive partner in 05-06, to seventh defenseman and odd-man out to Niklas Kronwall and Brett Lebda last year. He had a surprisingly good playoffs and still brings the most physical presence of any Red Wings defenseman (relatively speaking), but even in the Mike Babcock era, offensive defensemen win out in Detroit.

Obviously, Sopel is no lock for a contract with the Wings, but the possibility is intriguing.

I realize I’m a little late to chime in on this topic. Others have said their piece already and made some great points. See Abel to Yzerman, Gorilla Crouch, and yzerman is god.

Kronwall gone two months, Lidstrom to miss Sunday’s game

Published

Sarah Baker

on April 1, 2007

in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Roster Moves

. 4 Comments

Just thought I’d do a little update since I know that Matt is without internet access for the time being…

Yesterday’s game was a such a disappointment. The Wings showed great promise in the first two periods, only to let it all slip away in the last half of the third. It was tragic really. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too painful. These close ones just kill me, especially when we seem to have the game all locked up early on.

Not only did we lose the game, but we also lost Niklas Kronwall in the first thirty seconds to a broken pelvic bone (Dave from gorilla crouch has a nice diagram if you want specifics…). He was against the boards behind the net fighting for the puck, and Joel Lundqvist barreled in and gave him one heck of a hip check into the boards. Unfortunately I have to say it was clean - I really wish I could blame him (or anyone for that matter…), it’d give me somewhere to direct the venting of my frustrations.

Mickey Redmond lamented the play for quite some time, saying that generally one of your teammates (like the goaltender…) should warn you when someone is flying toward you like that. Though he did admit the possibility that Kronner had been warned, but may not have had the time necessary to react. Honestly it just seemed like a freak play, another unfortunate break for Kronwall. I love the way he plays, but he has yet to make it through a season with the Wings without a major injury. I just wish he could stay healthy! Oh I forgot to mention… he’s out for 6-8 weeks, or about two months. That means that the only way he’s coming back this season is for the Stanley Cup Finals - maybe. As IwoCPO points out, that means we’ll likely be seeing all too much of everyone’s favorite whipping boy, Andreas Lilja. While I do feel that Lils has seemed better of late, he’s still the weakest link on our defense and can be a liability.

To top it all off, our defensive rock, Nicklas Lidstrom, is out with a lower back strain. Lidstrom doesn’t get injured! What is up with that? They’re saying it’s nothing serious - just precautionary, but given the wings’ tendency to downplay injury severity, I can’t help but be a just a little bit concerned. I really, really, really hope they’re right, because there’s no way we’re going anywhere in the playoffs without Nick Lidstrom.

Anyway, the gaps in our depleted defense will be filled by the returning Brett Lebda and call-up Kyle Quincey. Not sure why Quincey got the call over Derek Meech (who has outplayed him all season in GR - when Quincey has been healthy, that is). I like Quincey, but he seems to have a tendency to take bad penalties. Hopefully he’ll be on his best behavior against the Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Wings 3, Kings 2 (OT)

Published

Matt Saler

on March 10, 2007

in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Danny Markov, Game Reports, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Johan Franzen, Kings, Matt Ellis and Mikael Samuelsson

. 2 Comments

I didn’t take notes on the game, so I can only offer a few thoughts, not a comprehensive summary.

… Big story of the night: Johan Franzen left the game in the second period, not long after Pavel Datsyuk scored to make it 1-1, and did not return. According to Helene St. James, he didn’t practice yesterday due to the same injury (contradicting Babcock’s “Mule’s fine” comment) but apparently he felt good to go before the game.

Hopefully Franzen’s not going to be out for long because he was a big loss against the Kings. His tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, would have come in handy at some points later in the game.

Also, you may have noticed Danny Markov was missing from the lineup. According to St. James, he’s not hurt, he was just being given the night off, in favor of Andreas Lilja, who was in need of some playing time.

… The Wings came out flat and paid for it as the Kings took a one-goal lead in the first period. A bad turnover by Niklas Kronwall led directly to the goal, and it was too early in his return to expect Dominik Hasek to be 100% sharp on the play, especially after Kronwall failed to clear the net. Not Nik’s best game by a long shot.

The team as a whole looked out of sync for much of the first half of the game, whereas the Kings were battling hard and earning their lead.

… One positive thing was that there were few penalties called, so the flow of the game wasn’t disrupted so much. Only two penalties in the first two periods combined, followed by three in the third. Of course, the final call was an unfortunate one as it put the Wings on a 4-on-3 penalty kill to start overtime.

… Sean Burke was steady the whole game, though to be honest, he didn’t have to shine all that often. The Wings put 54 shots on net but the majority of them were low percentage perimeter shots or C-grade offensive chances. Not to take anything away from Burke, he had a great game. But the Wings did not put on their best performance offensively. The Kings, to their credit, put up a pretty good stand on the defensive side, though, which contributed to the Wings’ offensive hiccups.

… I noticed Matt Ellis a lot tonight. The man was obviously pumped from becoming a father, as he was everywhere when on the ice. He finished with only 8:22 in ice-time, but came close to scoring his first NHL goal a number of times.

… Good to see Brett Lebda channel Bobby Orr and/or Paul Coffey on his (literally) coast-to-coast goal in the third. Brett’s got the best wheels on the team, I think, and showed he’s got some great hands to go with them with that impressive finish. One of the top highlight reel goals of the season for both the Wings and the League, I’d say.

… Late in the third, the Wings had a power play but got far too cute in their attempts at scoring. They had Burke beat down low multiple times but made two or three too many passes and blew their chances.

… Nice penalty by Robert Lang at the end of regulation. I was a bit surprised when Mike Babcock put Andreas “Relative Pylon” Lilja out there with Chris Chelios and Kris Draper for the 4-on-3 penalty kill in OT. Fortunately, Lilja played it well and my fears were unnecessary.

… Nice give and go by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk for the game winner. Poor Aaron Miller had no chance to defend the play, having committed to Datsyuk just as Pavel dished it right back to Samuelsson for the slam dunk.

Of course, I look foolish for saying in my preview Samuelsson probably wouldn’t figure much into the game. I admit it. I was surprised. He looked good in his return, though he looks real good for having scored a goal handed to him on a silver platter by Datsyuk. Hopefully it was just the first in a series of goals for Sammy.

… The win put the Wings one point behind Nashville in the Central Division title race. They have one more game in hand, Sunday’s matchup with Boston, before the big mid-March home-and-home showdown.

… Also, Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond said not to expect Henrik Zetterberg or Todd Bertuzzi back until after the team’s trip to Vancouver and Calgary later this month, saying that the Wings would probably rather not have the two make the six hour flight out there with their backs having just healed. If they’re right, that would mean a March 22nd return, at the earliest.

Wings 4, Coyotes 2

Published

Matt Saler

on February 8, 2007

in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Coyotes, Danny Markov, Game Reports and Injuries

. 4 Comments

Update (6:35 PM): I neglected to mention that the Wings can only pass Nashville with a win if the Predators lose to Toronto tonight. The Leafs are riding a 4-game win streak, while the Preds are 1-3-0 over their last four, but that win came at home and that’s where the game is, starting at 8:00 ET. Keep an eye on that one, folks. - Matt

Update (6:05 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Danny Markov will sit out tonight’s game with an “undisclosed upper body injury,”suffered when Jeremy Roenick hit him into the end boards in the third period last night.

I wrote below that it looked like a rib injury and Khan concurred in an email, though it looks like we may be wrong: Markov was supposed to have an MRI today, which seems to imply there was something to Ted Kulfan’s speculation about the injury being to his left shoulder. As Megan pointed out to me in conversation, if it was his ribs they’d just do an X-ray. For a shoulder injury, they’d check it out with an MRI just like they would with a knee. So, it may be safe to assume that for “upper body” you can read “left shoulder.”

In any case, the Wings aren’t too worried about it and expect Danny back soon, as this quote from Mike Babcock indicates:

“Markie’s tough as a rattlesnake, he’ll bounce back.’’

Andreas Lilja will be in the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch since Schneider returned on February 2nd. - Matt

The Wings extended their win-streak to five last night as they beat Phoenix 4-2 at home. It honestly wasn’t much of a contest, as the Wings controlled the greater part of the play, but the Coyotes were kept in it by the great goaltending of Curtis Joseph. The former Red Wing made 44 saves, many of which were high-quality, and gave his team a chance to win before Detroit pulled ahead in the third.

Dominik Hasek was in net for the Wings and looked solid. He made 20 saves and didn’t have to work too hard, though he did have to make a good save occasionally. He was the victim of the Wings’ chronic inability to clear the crease on the first goal and of the team’s offensively opportunistic doctrine for defensemen on the second, and can’t really be blamed for either one, though he made a bad gamble on the latter and compounded the problem.

The Wings controlled play from the start, with their early shifts being mostly in the Phoenix zone. Joseph was sharp and made the necessary saves, including a great one on Pavel Datsyuk on a give-and-go with Josh Langfeld before the 4:00 mark. The Coyotes brought the puck the other way and nearly scored when Hasek missed on one of his wandering pokecheck attempts. Chris Gratton sent the puck just wide, however, and the score remained 0-0.

The Coyotes had a light 1-man forecheck going early in the game, but seemed to be dangerously opportunistic. Fortunately, the Wings’ defense was up to the task, as they generally diffused any Coyotes offensive chance.

Pretty early on, it was clear that Henrik Zetterberg had brought his “A” game and was set to have a big night. He had a good scoring chance around the 6:45 mark and continued to create plays for the rest of the game.

Phoenix took a 1-0 lead at 9:06 when Owen Nolan walked out from behind the net and got off a shot on Hasek, which was stopped. There was a rebound, however, and Nolan kept whacking at it as Danny Markov ineffectively pushed him with his arms. Ladislav Nagy ran interference on Mathieu Schneider as Nolan got his stick on the puck, spun, and backhanded it into the net just before Hasek fell on his back to close off the post. It was one of those plays were Nolan would have been on his back had he tried that against most any other team. It was a little sad that even with Markov out there, they couldn’t clear the front of the net. Maybe Dom could have held on to the puck better on the initial shot, but he should have had to.

Henrik Zetterberg had a nice shift following the goal as he kept the puck away from three Coyotes, but nothing came of it. Owen Nolan forced Hasek to come up big soon after with a quick shot in the high slot that was more dangerous than it looked.

Around 13:50, Pavel Datsyuk made a nice takeaway at the Phoenix blueline (just as they got away with having too many men on the ice) and carried the puck into the zone. He centered it to Zetterberg, who had a nice scoring chance as a result, but Joseph stoned him.

The Wings went on the power play at 14:17 and had a couple good opportunities to tie it up, but Joseph was too sharp and they couldn’t get it past him. After the penalty expired, the Coyotes switched to a hard forecheck and forced the Wings on a carry-out attempt that ended up taking maybe 45 seconds as a result.

All in all, the first period wasn’t overly exciting. The Wings looked a little off and the Coyotes looked to have a little more desire, but they didn’t necessarily have the ability to do much with it, despite their lead.

The Wings began the second period with some chances in the first minute or so, but Joseh was equal to the task. Granted, the Wings did a pretty good job of blowing chances, as in the first four minutes, they failed on at least three big ones: first, Cleary’s slow cross-ice pass meant Joseph arrived at the other side of the net long before Lang could one-time the puck; second, Jiri Hudler sent a shot high over the net 40 seconds later; third, Kirk Maltby had a goal on his stick but couldn’t get a shot off before the defense closed in on him.

They did finally score at 4:51 on a nice give-and-go between Lang and Lebda. Robert carried the puck down the right wing and sent it across to Lebda, who took it deep before making a great pass across the goalmouth to Lang at the right post. Slam-dunk into a wide open net. 1-1 game.

Nik Kronwall really stood out a couple minutes later with a few nice shifts as he got involved offensively. On the first, he forced a faceoff on a chance sneaking up and on the second, he made a smooth manoeuvre around the defense before getting off a shot, and the rebound was almost knocked in by Lang and Cleary.

Henrik Zetterberg made a nice play at center when he tipped the puck to himself and took it in on a rush around 8:50. Pavel Datsyuk was doing similar things and was putting in a good effort, but almost looked to be trying too hard, as he often went one deke too far or attempted passes that were too pretty. Still, Hank, Pavel, and the rest of the Wings were dictating play around mid-period and beyond.

Zetterberg put the Wings ahead by one at 16:27 with a nice personal effort. He carried the puck down the right wing 1-on-1 with Derek Morris covering him. He threatened a backhand shot from that side and faked Joseph into commiting before taking it around the back of the net and coming out the other side. With Joseph down and out, he got underneath the puck and roofed it in the top right corner with a backhander. Great play by Hank, and kind of a sequel to his goal on Manny Legace last week.

Soon after the goal, the Wings went on the power play. They had a couple chances, but couldn’t quite click, and before long, they were called for a penalty themselves and we went to 4-on-4 hockey. This stretch was uneventful and soon the Wings were killing off a short power play.

Things were going pretty well until Datsyuk turned the puck over in the Phoenix zone after getting hooked slightly by Keith Ballard. Chris Chelios had pinched up, hoping to pick up a drop pass from Pavel, but Michael Zigomanis got to the puck first and sent it up ice to Yanic Perreault at center. Perreault just tipped it to the left wing just as he got nailed by Danny Markov and Shane Doan was away as Chelios skated as hard as I’ve ever seen him skate in trying to catch up. Dominik Hasek chose this opportunity to come out of the net and challenge Doan, but the Coyotes’ captain deked just before Dom got to him and, though he was tripped up, managed to maintain possession as he fell. He got off a shot and the puck slide into the gaping net to make it 2-2 with one second remaining on the power play, at 19:43. In hindsight, it was not a great decision by Dom, but that’s his practice on breakaways and it’s worked more often than not until recently.

The Wings still had jump as they started the third period and they scored again within three and a half minutes. The play began with Holmstrom getting nailed before a Zetterberg takeaway and subsequent Lidstrom shot off the post. Zetterberg picked the puck up off the rebound along the boards and sent it back to Lidstrom, who returned it to Hank right away. Zetterberg stepped up and took a snap shot that ricocheted off a Coyote skate before beating Joseph glove side at 3:22. It was Hank’s 100th career goal.

Not long after the goal, the game hit a patch of penalties. First, the Wings went on the power play at 5:07, then they got a 5-on-3 at 5:43. Once the initial penalty expired they had a short 5-on-4 powerplay but it was cut even shorter by a BS goaltender interference call on Holmstrom, who had been irritating the Phoenix defense all night and was in serious danger of having his head taken off. Following a faceoff, Homer headed to the net while Ballard did the same, only he was gliding backwards. He bumped into Holmstrom and pushed him back toward the net, but Homer ended up at the side of the net rather than out front and Ballard bumped Joseh ever so lightly. Joseph, however, decided he wanted an Oscar nomination and threw up his arms before falling like a sack of potatoes. The ref, unfortunately, fell for it and slapped Homer with the penalty. Fortunately, the subsequent stretch of play was uneventful, mostly due to Lang’s casual disruption of a Phoenix near-breakaway by slowly putting his stick out to knock the puck out of reach.

After their power play, the Coyotes showed some life and the Wings narrowly avoided a possible tied score when Derek Morris’ stick betrayed him by breaking on a slap shot. Dom had to make a couple big saves in sequence around the 9:30 mark and by then, the Wings had regained control.

Kris Draper, aggressively forechecking as usual, was called for hooking at the transition point from fore- to backcheck when Ballard either lost an edge or took a page from Joseph’s book at center. Danny Markov was hurt on the resulting Phoenix power play when Jeremy Roenick nailed him in the end boards following a clearing shot. At first it looked as though it was his right arm, but based on the way he was laying, I think it may be his ribs. Roenix hit him with his elbow or shoulder and may have cracked something. Markov skated off eventually, and the Wings killed off the rest of the penalty.

Soon after the power play ended, Pavel Datsyuk had a nice break down the middle. He a shot from pretty far out in order to get something before the defense closed on him, and its surprising quickness forced Joseph to be sharp.

The teams traded penalties again before the period ended, with some 4-on-4, 4-on-3, and 5-on-4 play resulting. Finally, with a minute left, the Coyotes pulled Joseph. He had hardly even made it to the blueline before Perreault’s pass was intercepted by Zetterberg. Hank took a couple steps before sending it to Datsyuk, who skated in the middle and sunk it in the empty net at 19:00. After the formality of the last minute, the Wings won 4-2.

According to Ken Daniels, Wayne Gretzky said before the game that Henrik Zetterberg is the most underrated player in the NHL. Hard to disagree after seeing how much he dominated the game last night. He was easily the #1 star, though Joseph should be thought of as a solid #2.

It was a pretty complete win for the Wings, unlike their recent comeback victories. It put them one point behind Nashville and gave them a chance to pass the Preds tonight with a win in St. Louis. The Blues have lost their momentum a bit and have won only one game in their last five. They are 12 points out of the playoffs and have very little chance of making it now. A loss tonight would make it even more difficult. However, they’ll be certain to fight hard and that means the Wings could be in trouble, having played a game last night.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch the game tonight. So, no game report tomorrow. Sorry about that.

Broken hand sidelines Markov

Published

Sarah Baker

on December 6, 2006

in Andreas Lilja, Danny Markov and Injuries

. 4 Comments

Helene St James reports that Danny Markov will be out of the Wings lineup for at least three weeks with a broken right hand. He took a puck to the hand early in the third period of last night’s game. The Wings will need to call someone up at least until Kronwall comes back from his groin injury (maybe Saturday?). Kyle Quincey would normally be the top call-up on defense, but he’s still working his way back from a concussion and I’m not sure he’d be ready to go yet. (Though he did play in a charity sled-hockey game last night…) The most likely options are Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericsson. Both have had outstanding seasons thus far. Meech has been a workhorse for Grand Rapids, logging plenty of minutes and playing solid defense. The Wings could potentially opt to go with veteran Dan Smith, but they seem to like giving the youngsters a shot at the NHL when opportunities arise, so that’s what I’d expect.

St James also points out that this means the whiny Lilja will probably get the playing time he’s been begging for, paired with his old partner, Nicklas Lidstrom.